Why Do Counseling Majors Have To Take Statistics?

Anyone getting a counseling degree is asked to take statistics because the field requires research to advance itself. Someone with a degree in the field may move on to psychology or another research field, and they will learn quickly that statistics are applied to their work every day. This article explains why the course must be taken by students in graduate programs, and it helps show where the students may use the information in the future.

What Are Statistics?

The statistical data that is used in the counseling field is quite powerful as it shows how disorders are distributed around the population. There are quite a few people who will be interested in learning about how many patients suffer from a certain condition, and there are others who wish to look into studies that may include their patients. Having a basic understanding of statistics ensures the student may speak about it confidently in the future.

Going Into Another Degree Program

Someone who wishes to go on to a doctorate in counseling or to study psychology must ensure they have spent time in a statistics class as it will be taught again in the future. The student will be taken through a number of different principles in math that will help them complete research, and they may go on to write a dissertation that is based on a research project. The statistics that must be completed for the project will appear in the final report, and they must be understood by the student before they begin writing.

Studying Patients

Someone who is studying their patients may take a small statistical model of their clientele to learn how their disorders are spread about. The counselor will learn about the patient’s disorder, how they affect others and how at what rate they may recover. Someone who understands statistics will find many studies their patients may enter, and they must do the math to learn if their patient qualifies.

Reading In The Field

Reading in the field is important as a counselor must improve their professional knowledge, and the counseling degree asks students to read about stats even if they are not in a class on the subject. Someone who is committed to continuing education must be prepared to read about statistics, and they will find it quite important that they understand what they are reading. Skipping over statistics is simply not helpful to patients who come through the door every day.

Teaching Courses On The Subject

Teaching courses in the field is important when a counselor wishes to become a professor, and they must know statistics if they want to teach. They cannot gloss over that part of the course, and they may be asked to teach a class on the subject. There is no way to avoid the topic in the modern day, and each professional must know how to explain the concepts to students.

Concluding Remarks

Anyone who is prepared to go into counseling must be ready for the barrage of math, statistics and studies that will be thrown at them. A counseling degree is only the first place where someone will learn about statistical research, and they will use it again in the future.